COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE
Members. Peter Furness, Ken Joh, Suzanne Meleg-Smith (Chair), Luiz Moura,
Jean Olson.
Role and mission. The role of the RPS Communications Committee is to enhance communication among members of the RPS at every level, especially in view of the international composition of the RPS. The RPS’s presence is highlighted internationally and to other societies
Results; RPS website hits has passed 21,000. Hits have doubled in the last 6 months.
Agenda for 2005
Letter/e-mail campaign to increase membership from Central and South America
RPS website: add a “Manual of operations”
add an “Abstracts” section, to publicize abstracts presented by RPS members at various meetings, per members’ request
post miscellaneous material, as requested
continued up-date
Send membership e-mails as per request
EDUCATION AND SCIENTIFIC Committee Report, February 2005
RPS Satellite conference
Thank you to Steve Bonsib, Committee chair in 2004, for his efforts in organising a highly successful satellite conference in San Antonio.
A major function of the RPS is the provision of educational opportunities in renal pathology to its members and also the dissemination of information on new developments in the field, in both basic and clinical science, particularly those that potentially change the clinical practice of renal pathology. As membership has expanded and the society has become a truly international one, the current challenge is to ensure that these educational opportunities are equally available to all members.
The Education and Scientific Committee organises the RPS annual satellite conference and, to ensure equity of access amongst RPS members, the venue for this should reflect the geographic distribution of our membership (currently 303 members, 225 from US & Canada, 78 from elsewhere in the world (53 from Europe). It has therefore been agreed that for 2/3 years the conference will be in North America and 1/3 elsewhere in the world.
It has also been agreed that there should be a restricted number of meetings to which the RPS satellite conference should be associated; this is determined by the scientific and clinical quality of the meetings and their relevance to the RPS membership. The meetings are:
International Academy of Pathology
International Society of Nephrology
European Congress of Pathology
American Society of Nephrology
US and Canadian Academy of Pathology
The 2004 and 2005 RPS conferences were at the USCAP in Vancouver and San Antonio. The 2006 conference is due to be held in a non-North American venue. However, there is no ECP or ISN meeting in 2006. The 2006 RPS satellite conference will therefore be at the IAP meeting in Montreal. In 2007 it will be in Europe.
Support of other Renal Pathology Meetings
The Education and Scientific Committee will also facilitate RPS involvement in national and regional renal pathology meetings around the world. This could take the form of administrative assistance, posting a flyer on the RPS website or funding a visiting overseas speaker. Any member involved in organising such a meeting should contact Ian Roberts if such assistance is required. This type of activity will provide direct benefits to our international members, many of who cannot easily attend North American meetings, and thus encourage new membership. This is illustrated by the expansion in the UK membership in recent years, which is in part a consequence of the RPS providing support for the annual UK Renal Pathology Group meetings.
Ian Roberts,
Chair, Education and Scientific Committee 2005
February 2005
MEMBERSHIP Committee
At the last USCAP meeting which took place in San Antonio, on February 27th
The following was reported by the Chair of the Membership Committee, Maria M. Picken:
New members since the last ASN meeting (Oct 30th, 2004): 13.
The current number of members: 303,
Junior members: 3%
Emeritus: 10%
The new members:
P. Hill, S.L. Werner, W. Kern, F.Bierbaum, K.Siami, .Osunkoya, E. Ilamthi
Y. Uschuplich, J.Smith, F. Medeiros, S. Jacb, L.F.Arias, DHT Ijpelaar
Australia x1, Colombia x1, Holland x1, USA x10
Applications are being considered throughout the year. We need more new members!
RESEARCH Committee Report
Patrick D. Walker, M.D., Chair February 27, 2005
1. Best Practices Paper
a. Modern Pathology 17: 1555-1563, 2004
2. Dense Deposit Disease
a. Paper is in preparation
b. KidNeeds and the Milagros Foundation Meeting
Renal Pathology Society well represented with President Charles Jennette, Mike Kashgarian, Terry Cook, Sanjev Sethi and Pat Walker in attendance.
1. MPGN II Review of symposium proceedings accepted for publication, JASN, Feb 2005
3. IgA Nephropathy
a. The Renal Pathology Society represented by Dr.s Terry Cook and Mark Haas have joined with the International IgA Nephropathy Network chaired by Dr. John Feehally of Leicester, UK to develop a consensus classification of IgA Nephropathy.
b. Pathology meeting Saturday, February 26, 2005.
4. Policy statement developed (see attached)
5. Other Collaborative Projects
a. Carrie Phillips Confocal Project